Claire woke up early the next morning, excited about getting outside and enjoying the freedom of riding a horse on the open

land. The acreage was mostly cleared of trees but a forest and clean river passed within walking distance to the three bedroom home. Hosea and Marie lived in a two bedroom cabin nearby.

Her parents had one bedroom, Tristan and jamie shared a bedroom and Teresa had her own bedroom. Claire was sleeping in

Teresa‟s bedroom and Austin was sharing a bedroom with Tristan and jamie.

She quickly put on a pair of dark brown slacks and a dark green and brown plaid shirt. Then she slipped on her brown

boots and slipped on her old brown coat and gloves. She wanted to see the horses before anyone else woke up to open Christmas

gifts. She quietly made her way to the barn and opened the door.

She sighed when she saw the condition of the place. It needed repairing. She knew she could reinforce the stalls and shelves but

there was no way she could repair the leaking roof. Then she remembered that she had money now and could hire someone to

fix it. She smiled with relief. Money did have its advantages.

“Hello there, Lou,” she greeted her dead sister‟s favorite horse which the family named after her. She hugged the

horse and breathed in the comforting scent of being back home in the barn.The horse neighed in response. She chuckled and quickly made her rounds to greet the other three horses:

They enjoyed the play on words for the horses. She supposed that two more horses would soon be added to the barn to

accommodate jamie and Teresa.

She went back to Lou and took the mare for a long ride through the fields. She passed by the cattle pen. She was happy to see that the cattle were thriving after the hail and

tornado hit the farm that previous summer. She blinked in surprise when she saw that a pig pen had been erected, and three

pigs oinked for their morning meal.

“I didn‟t even know you were here,” she told them. “So don‟t blame me if you‟re hungry.”

She returned Lou to the barn and went into the house. She saw that everyone was up and had opened up their gifts.

“Well, it‟s about time you showed up,” hosea said.

“We made a bet on when you‟d return and once again, you didn‟t fail to wait until the gift exchange was done.”

“I didn‟t realize I was gone for so long. What time is it?” she asked.

“It‟s time for you to show more attention to your husband than to a horse. Poor Mr. Hansworth is all alone on the couch.”

Jamie, Teresa, and Tristan sat next to Austin , squeezing him in the middle so he couldn‟t move. She hid her laughter at the sight of him. He was out of place in his suit. Everyone else wore farm clothes. Austin had a lot to learn about being with her family.

Her father and hosea sat in the chairs across from the couch.

“Where are Mother and marie?” Claire asked as she took off her hat and coat. She had pulled her hair back into a ponytail

so it wouldn‟t fly into her eyes during the ride.“They‟re in the kitchen making breakfast,” her father replied. “Did you get a chance to ride Lou?”

“I did. She‟s as graceful as ever.”

“You can thank Tristan for that. He‟s been working with all the horses.”

“When did we get pigs?”

“Oh, that was in October. We got them for a good price at the auction.”

She noted that Austin rolled his eyes.

He thinks Father should have put that money towards the mortgage.

And he‟s right. She was secretly relieved Austin would teach her family about handling finances.

“We named the big, mean one Claire.” Tristan grinned. “She pushes all the other pigs aside when she wants to eat. We‟re thinking she‟ll be Christmas dinner next year.”

“After all the garbage you‟ll be feeding her, you‟ll be doing her a favor.”

“Oh, you love me and you know it.”

“What names did you geniuses name the other two pigs?”

“Jamie named the male Hank, and no one knows why...”

“He looks like Hank Will,” Jamie nserted. “Hank is my classmate. He‟s big and fat.”

“Does Hank know you named a pig after him?” she wondered.

“Why do you think I got the black eye last month?” heresponded.

“Good for him. You needed to be taken down a notch,” she joked.

“And I named the other girl pig Oinky,” teresa added.

“That‟s cute.”

Hosea gagged. “Only a woman would say that.”

“Hey, that‟s good though, isn‟t it? There‟s hope for sis yet,” Tristan said.

“Don‟t listen to them, teresa,” she told her sister. “You do what you want to do. Don‟t let these two bozos run your life for you.”

“We already messed up with you. Do you think we‟d repeat our mistakes? We treat her like a princess.” Tristan‟s eyes were wide with sincerity.

She ignored him as she headed for the kitchen.

“Where are you going?” hoesa quickly asked.

“I‟m going to help Mother and marie cook Christmas dinner.”

“Oh no you don‟t!” hosea and Tristan were so fast that she didn‟t even see them jump in front of her. They turned her around.

“We actually want to survive the day. Even picky pig Claire wouldn‟t eat your cooking.”

“I‟m not that bad at it. Besides, how much damage can I do by just helping out?”

“We don‟t aim to find out.” Tristan pushed her until she sat next to Austin . “Usually, I‟d say a woman‟s place is in the kitchen but with you, your place is right here with us men and the children. Far away from any food preparation.”

Austin was chuckling next to her.

“I‟m glad someone is finding amusement with the way I‟m being treated.” She pretended to be upset but her smile betrayed her.

“Have you tasted her cooking yet?” Tristan asked him.

“Once. It was meatloaf,” Austin replied.

Everyone but her father grimaced. Her father simply smiled warmly at her.

“And that‟s her best dish,” Tristan said. “Sis, you can‟t be trying to push him away from you. You want to hold onto that one.

What other chance are you ever going to get?”

“You would be surprised, Tristan,” her father stated.

“claire‟s got a lot going for her and men are taking notice. You remember that Billy Crayton from the house two farms over? He

was asking about her the other day.”

She shivered. “Billy was always a vile boy. He is worse than my cooking.”

Tristan grinned. “What? You don‟t want to be with someone who never takes a bath and thinks farting is a hobby?”

He snapped his fingers and turned to hosea. “We should fix him up with pig claire! Then they can roll around in the mud

together.”

“He‟s cleaned up his act,” her father argued.

“No way are we letting someone who thinks a woman is an object marry our bossy, overbearing sister,” hosea argued.

“She may drive everyone insane but I couldn‟t confine her to a life

of misery.”

“I‟m just saying that she has options once she gets her annulment, that‟s all.”

“Can we stop talking about me as if I‟m not here?” she insisted.

“You‟re right, sis,” Tristan said. “We all chipped in this Christmas and made you a gift that comes straight from the bottom of our hearts.” He handed her a present. “We know you love to read, so we made you a book.”

“Really?” She was touched at their thoughtfulness.

“It‟s not what you‟re thinking, Claire,” her father warned.

Her eyes narrowed. “What are you siblings up to now?”Teresa giggled.

Jamie nudged her in the side. “We worked a long time on this,” jamie said. “It was tougher than my homework to come up

with my part.”

“We spent day and night on this masterpiece ever since we got wind of your engagement.” Tristan motioned to the gift. “I even used my best pen and paper to write down what everyone said.”

*******×******************

Much love

V.A 💙

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